Slides vs. negitives
 

Just thought I'd get some opinions on using slide vs. negitive (print) film. I've used both in the past but have used negitive exclusively for the last number of years. Does anyone have any adv/disadvangages for either?

I always loved the quality of the slides. But the processing is more difficult. Also as scanning photos has become important, this is more dificult to do with slides. I can scan prints at home, but need to go somewhere to do slides (or negitives).

Kurt

Slides:
Pro: Cheaper (no printing involved), much better quality, more vibrant colors, makes you look like a pro
Con: You have to use a slide viewer to see them. More difficult to make copies for friends. They are a little less forgiving than print film with exposure errors. Although, that’s not really a problem with modern camera equipment.

Prints:
Pro: Easier to view, More forgiving to exposure errors. Easier to make copies to friends.
Cons: Expensive (Developing and printing). You almost always loose quality and sharpness during printing so the prints are never as good as the negatives.

I would go for slides.

If you intend to scan either film type then get a slide scanner. There are a number of new cheap, but still very good, slide scanners on the market now. Even if you want to scan print film then use the slide scanner to scan the negative. This will produce much better digital images then scanning with the best flat bed scanner on the market.

Remember, each time you transfer the image from one medium to the other you loose quality and sharpness. When printing prints from negatives you loose quality. Then you scan the print with a flat bed scanner and you loose quality again.

Slides > Slide scanner = Digital image
Negatives > Slide scanner = Digital image
Negatives > prints > flat bed scanner = Digital image

You get the picture.

Hope this helps.

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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com


[This message has been edited by A.B. (edited 24 December 2001).]